Information Systems and Healthcare XXXI: Improving Infection Control Process Efficiency to Reduce Hospital Acquired Infections

Inconsistent and incomplete information due to the diversity of isolated information systems is one of the major problems information technology faces in the healthcare sector. The insufficient integration of actors results in delays in clinical processes. However, due to strict constraints in health care such as health regulations, clinical processes cannot be modified freely. The approach of this work is to apply the less radical principles of Business Process Management to medical information systems to provide reliable and timely access to relevant patient information and to decrease process lead time. In particular, this work outlines the impact of optimization for administrative processes. To substantiate our research, we performed a case study in collaboration with a healthcare provider and a regional healthcare facility in the U.S. We report on the workflow implementation of a clinical infection control process which integrates disparate systems and automates clinical decision making according to clinical knowledge. The post-metrics clearly emphasize the capability of Business Process Management to improve the integration of information, increase the quality of patient care, reduce health worker\u27s stress, and ease costs of treatment by significantly shortening process lead time. We conclude with a generalization of the results for other healthcare enterprises

A METHOD TO CLASSIFY STANDARDS IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: THE CASE OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Standards are an important part of any product or service as they impact many aspects such as interoperability, portability, and security. Hence, they constitute the cornerstone of any distributed, open, and flexible system “ even more so for emerging technologies such as cloud computing as the rate of their adoption can heavily depend on it. Often there is a plethora of standards available and “ despite their importance “ accurate information that can be used to guide the selection of standards is missing. Selecting the wrong standards can increase cost, reduce uptake, profitability, or lead to a product or service being stuck in a niche. Selecting the right standards can result in as much as the exact opposite. Despite numerous efforts to create classifications of standards that should provide guidance for the selection of standards, there is a lack of conceptualization and methods on how to build standards classifications. In this paper, we provide a conceptualization of technology standards, which serves as the basis for our method to classify standards in emerging technologies (C-SET). The method provides a procedure to classify standards based on a conceptual data model and a stakeholder model. In doing so, C-SET provides the basis to structure the information that is required for an informed selection of standards in emerging technologies. In this paper, we illustrate C-SET referring to cloud computing as an example of an emerging technology

Validation of a Generic Service Governance Meta Model based on the Comparison of Major Governance Frameworks

The effective governance of organizational capabilities in the areas of Service Management and Service-oriented Architectures (SOA) has been broadly recognized as an essential success factor for service-oriented enterprises. Organizations that target the adoption of an adequate Service Governance approach face the difficulty of selecting from a variety of related frameworks with differing scopes and objectives. In this paper, we provide a structural comparison of the major, non vendor-specific IT and SOA Governance and Management frameworks and use this comparison to validate our own Service Governance meta model. This generic meta model is intended to provide a sound conceptualization, thereby contributing to a better understanding and facilitation of Service Governance, e.g. by forming the foundation for the development of a flexible and configurable Service Governance tool

Key Requirements for a Context-Aware Service Marketplace: An Expert’s Perspective

With the advent of an Internet of Services, requirements arise for new or repurposed channels to offer, sell, moderate, and change services. A possible manifestation of such a channel is an internet-based service marketplace. Due to the complexity of service delivery between arbitrary providers and consumers the effective matching of offering and demand, as well as its delivery, is crucial. To narrow and focus the search and delivery process we consider context-awareness as a key requirement. Context-aware information systems are conscious of their environment, i.e. their relevant execution context and, thus, provide a better targeted application experience. As there is no universally accepted context description model, which explicates relevant context information, we gathered requirements on the basis of expert interviews. The interviews were performed with stakeholders from different organizational units to get a broad understanding of the key issues. The consolidated findings lead to a number of context categories

Standards Assessment in Disruptive Innovation: A Software Prototype for Cloud Computing

Standards impact interoperability, portability, and security of products or services. Standards con- tribute to open and flexible systems that, in turn, are a catalyst for the uptake of new technologies. The assessment of standards in disruptive innovation is, however, challenged by uncertainty over markets, technology evolution, and organizational change. The dynamics of technology progression, further- more, contribute to high assessment efforts, leading to situations where up-to-date information on standards is effectively missing. In this paper, we build upon previous work on a model and method to support assessment of standards in disruptive innovation. We summarize the methods potentials for reducing standards assessment efforts and automation. Thereupon, we propose a conceptual software architecture for standards assessment platforms and instantiate the platform for the domain of cloud computing. Our discussion of the Cloud Standards Assessment Platform will present the user experi- ence and reflect the realizability of automation potentials in standards assessment. We give an outlook on future work and platform adoption to conclude this paper

Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud

With the advent of cloud computing, organizations are nowadays able to react rapidly to changing demands for computational resources. Not only individual applications can be hosted on virtual cloud infrastructures, but also complete business processes. This allows the realization of so-called elastic processes, i.e., processes which are carried out using elastic cloud resources. Despite the manifold benefits of elastic processes, there is still a lack of solutions supporting them. In this paper, we identify the state of the art of elastic Business Process Management with a focus on infrastructural challenges. We conceptualize an architecture for an elastic Business Process Management System and discuss existing work on scheduling, resource allocation, monitoring, decentralized coordination, and state management for elastic processes. Furthermore, we present two representative elastic Business Process Management Systems which are intended to counter these challenges. Based on our findings, we identify open issues and outline possible research directions for the realization of elastic processes and elastic Business Process Management.Comment: Please cite as: S. Schulte, C. Janiesch, S. Venugopal, I. Weber, and P. Hoenisch (2015). Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud. Future Generation Computer Systems, Volume NN, Number N, NN-NN., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2014.09.00

An Information Systems Design Theory for Service Network Effects

Service platforms make software applications available as a service to end users. Platforms enable noticeable economic benefits for scaling and transforming a business. Their long-term competitiveness is ensured in controlled cooperation with channel intermediaries and network partners. Hence, service platforms must be designed to harness self-enforcing effects of value generation, so-called network effects. In an exaptation of existing knowledge, we present an information systems design theory to inform the design of methods that analyze, describe, and guide the design of service platforms through the means of causal loops and control methods. We describe the theory’s purpose and scope as well as the underlying justificatory knowledge behind the constructs and principles of form and function. The design theory covers the design of all service platform participants and activities as well as their transactions and influences in areas of staged platform authority, using enforcing and incentivizing control methods. We demonstrate the principles of implementation with an expository instantiation and apply it to the M-Engineering service platform, which offers surveillance, control, and data acquisition solutions. Furthermore, we present and discuss testable propositions and a study design to evaluate our design principles

Machine learning and deep learning

Today, intelligent systems that offer artificial intelligence capabilities often rely on machine learning. Machine learning describes the capacity of systems to learn from problem-specific training data to automate the process of analytical model building and solve associated tasks. Deep learning is a machine learning concept based on artificial neural networks. For many applications, deep learning models outperform shallow machine learning models and traditional data analysis approaches. In this article, we summarize the fundamentals of machine learning and deep learning to generate a broader understanding of the methodical underpinning of current intelligent systems. In particular, we provide a conceptual distinction between relevant terms and concepts, explain the process of automated analytical model building through machine learning and deep learning, and discuss the challenges that arise when implementing such intelligent systems in the field of electronic markets and networked business. These naturally go beyond technological aspects and highlight issues in human-machine interaction and artificial intelligence servitization.Comment: Published online first in Electronic Market

Inciting Networks Effects Through Platform Authority: A Design Theory for Service Platforms

The provisioning of software has shifted towards a service model, where applications are hosted, metered, and billed through service platforms rather than being sold as on-premise software. These services can exhibit network effects, which are self-enforcing effects of value generation. They describe the interdependency of service or platform value, service consumption, and third party service provisioning. Service platforms need to be designed to incite these network effects. We propose a design theory which is based on the operator’s platform authority as the key factor for controlling and influencing stakeholders in and around the service platform in different control modes. As a design method, we propose a conceptual modeling language which supports service platform design with staged areas of authority, process flows as well as control methods. We present the rationale behind the language, discuss its application, and propose testable hypotheses for an empirical evaluation